With Romeo at the Big Reds seven-yard line, Richardson dropped back to pass. He managed to elude what looked like a definite sack, only to rifle the ball to a wide-open junior tight end, Blake Williams.

Richardson described the play as though it was run-of-the mill, but it was far from that.

“I was supposed to hit (Williams) early,” Richardson said. “I rolled out right, made the guy miss, and hit him right in the chest for a touchdown.”

Chippewa Valley struggled offensively, committing three turnovers.

Junior quarterback Brendan Rohlfs went 11-of-24 passing for 123 yards, but saw a great deal of his passes knocked down by the Romeo defensive line.

Senior running back Graylyn Claiborne toted the ball 13 times for 129 yards and touchdown runs of 49 and two yards. He was also, however, part of some failed handoffs that doomed the Big Reds.

Chippewa Valley got on the board first about eight minutes into the first quarter, on a powerful display of running from Claiborne.

The Big Reds were driving late in the second quarter, but fumbled an attempted reverse on the Romeo 27. That simple miscue set up a ferocious swing in the Bulldogs’ favor.

“That was huge,” Big Reds coach Scott Merchant said. “It gave them a lot of momentum.”

Romeo used a seven-play, 83-yard drive to tie the game just 37.7 seconds before the half. The scoring play began with Richardson faking a handoff to senior receiver Trevor Medley. Richardson kept the ball, cut left and into the end zone from 14 yards out.

Richardson and Claiborne traded fourth-quarter touchdowns, but it was the Romeo defense that elevated its play in the second half.

Of Claiborne’s 129 rushing yards, 121 came in the first half. Though Chippewa Valley was forced to throw the ball a lot, the Bulldogs defensive line made that an arduous task.

“Our defensive line just played tremendously better tonight,” Romeo co-head coach Jason Couch said. “I’m very happy with that. We played more of a complete game, whereas last week we took some smacks in the face before we woke up.”

The Bulldogs also got sacks in key situations.

Facing long third and fourth downs at different points in the second half, juniors George Wilson and Paul Labaere each recorded sacks that whipped up the rowdy Romeo crowd.

Romeo junior receiver Mitchell Hess also had a fine game, catching a pair of passes for 77 yards.

From the Big Reds point of view, turning the ball over three times was simply insurmountable in such a tightly-contested game. On top of two lost fumbles, the team also had a punt blocked and recovered by Romeo.

“We made a ton of mistakes that we didn’t make last week (against Dearborn),” Merchant said. “We had 3 turnovers tonight, and we had zero last week. When you lose the turnover battle 3-0, you’re not going to beat a good team. I feel that was a big difference in a one-score game.”

Both teams will need to prepare for a formidable challenge next week. Romeo visits Dakota, while Chippewa Valley will take on Eisenhower.

The Big Reds were led defensively by Chuck Ahee (14 tackles) and Keyonn Whitfield (12 tackles).